Tonometers and infectious risk: myth or reality? Efficacy of different disinfection regimens on tonometer tips

Purpose To evaluate the adequacy of common disinfection regimens for disposable tonometer tips and assess if disinfection of reusable prisms or the use of disposable tips is preferable. Methods We used disposable tonometer tips, using the same material and tip diameter of standard Goldmann tonometer prism. Strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans were tested according to the European standard guidelines for disinfectants test. Antimicrobial effectiveness of the following disinfection practices has been assessed: dry wipe, Minuten wipes (Alpros), soaking in 3% hydrogen peroxide, 0.5% benzalkonium chloride, and 0.5% Pantasepts for 1, 5, …

Sicurezza ed Efficacia dell’inserto Ologen™ nella chirurgia del glaucoma: risultati preliminari di uno studio prospettico di fase II

Azione antalgica di Hydrogel nell'orbitopatia basedowiana

Multifocal choroiditis: Indocyanine green angiographic features

The aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the indocyanine green (ICG) angiographic features in 13 patients affected by multifocal choroiditis. We identified two clinical and angiographic patterns. The ‘active’ pattern showed hypofluorescence up to the late phases and more extensive choroidal involvement than presumed by ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography. In the ‘inactive’ pattern, ICG angiography showed hypofluorescence during all the phases: no increase in lesion number was observed between early and late phases. Choroidal neovascularization was present in 10 patients, and it was bilateral in 2 of these: it occurred only in the inactive stage. The appearance of choroida…

Adénocarcinome de la glande lacrymale dans un rétinoblastome bilatéral traité avec radiothérapie externe : à propos d’un cas

This clinical case report describes the clinical findings and diagnosis of lacrimal gland adenocarcinoma that developed 20 years after external beam radiotherapy in the treatment of bilateral retinoblastoma. Visual acuity, slit lamp biomicroscopy, fundus color photography, nuclear magnetic resonance, lateral orbitotomy and histological analysis are described.

Chirurgia dell’interfaccia vitreoretinica: studio randomizzato su tecnica 20G Vs 23G

Increased central corneal thickness in acromegalic patients.

Deep sclerectomy versus punch trabeculectomy: effect of low-dosage mitomycin C.

<i>Purpose:</i> To compare IOP behavior after deep sclerectomy (DS) and trabeculectomy with the Crozafon-De Laage Punch (TP), using low-dosage intraoperative mitomycin C (MMC) in both techniques. <i>Methods:</i> The study was a prospective randomized clinical trial. All patients met inclusion and exclusion criteria, and were scheduled for glaucoma surgery. Forty patients were randomized to undergo either a nonpenetrating DS with MMC (DSMMC) (19 eyes) or a TP with MMC (TPMMC) (21 eyes). Postoperative examinations were performed at the 1st day, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd weeks and the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months. Postoperative complications, number of antiglaucoma med…

Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion Followed by Central Retinal Artery Occlusion in Churg-Strauss Syndrome: Unusual Ocular Manifestations in Allergic Granulomatous Angiitis

Purpose To describe a rare branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) followed by central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) in a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS). Methods A 55-year-old man with a not yet diagnosed CSS developed a BRVO in the left eye and 1 year later a CRAO with painless and acute vision loss in the same eye. Medical history included bronchial asthma, history of allergy, eosinophilic pneumonia, bilateral pleuric and pericardial effusion, hypereosinophilia, and purpuric vasculitis. Results CRAO in the left eye was diagnosed by retinal whitening and a cherry red spot with coexisting old BRVO evidenced by previous laser photocoagulation. Corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide t…

Cornea in acromegalic patients as a possible target of growth hormone action.

Background: GH exerts its effects on many organs and the eye also seems to be a target site, although few authors have investigated the corneal thickness in patients with acromegaly. Aim: To perform a detailed ophthalmological evaluation in acromegalic patients, in relation to disease activity. Material and methods: Twenty-eight acromegalic patients (11 males, 17 females) and 22 voluntary healthy subjects underwent complete metabolic and ophthalmological evaluation, including retinal thickness (RT), central corneal thickness (CCT), and intraocular pressure values (IOP). Results: Significantly greater CCT values were found in all acromegalic patients in comparison with controls (567 vs 528.5…

Additional file 1 of Day care cataract surgery in Central and Southern Italy: a multicentric survey

Additional file 1: Questionnaire on cataract day surgery diffusion in Ophthalmic Surgery Unit of Central and Southern Italy. The items in the questionnaire concerned: (a) number of procedures for cataract surgery performed during 2005, and type of hospital admission; (b) information about the time since the introduction of DS for cataract surgery; (c) information about perioperative management, blood tests, type of anesthesia, use of topical skin disinfectants, average time of hospitalization and postoperative follow-up; (d) information about local facilities working in the same field, both public and private. (DOC 22 KB)

In Vitro Generation of Pancreatic Endocrine Cells from Human Adult Fibroblast-Like Limbal Stem Cells

Stem cells might provide unlimited supply of transplantable cells for β-cell replacement therapy in diabetes. The human limbus is a highly specialized region hosting a well-recognized population of epithelial stem cells, which sustain the continuous renewal of the cornea, and the recently identified stromal fibroblast-like stem cells (f-LSCs), with apparent broader plasticity. However, the lack of specific molecular markers for the identification of the multipotent limbal subpopulation has so far limited the investigation of their differentiation potential. In this study we show that the human limbus contains uncommitted cells that could be potentially harnessed for the treatment of diabete…

A case-control study on risk factors for nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular cataract: The Casteldaccia Eye Study

Purpose: To investigate risk factors for nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular age-related cataract. Methods: A case-control study was carried out on subjects aged 40 years and older, living in Casteldaccia, Sicily. Twenty-seven potential risk factors were investigated. Nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular opacities of the lens were classified according to the Lens Opacities Classification System II. Subjects with advanced lens opacities represented the cases, while an identical number of subjects without or with early cataract, matched for sex and age, were recruited as controls from within the same population. Results: Univariate analysis showed that myopia and iris atrophy w…

Uso del tonometro e rischio infettivo ; valutazione dell'efficacia di differenziali tipi di disinfettanti.

Obiettivo: valutare e confrontare l’efficacia dei più comuni tipi di disinfettanti per la disinfezione dei coni tonometrici e trarre alcune indicazioni sulla applicabilità alla realtà clinico-diagnostica in campo oftalmologico. Materiali e metodi: coni tonometrici monouso sterili, previamente contaminati con ceppi standard di Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa e Candida albicans sono stati testati, dopo semplice detersione o disinfezione con acqua ossigenata al 3%, benzalconio cloruro allo 0.5%, Minuten wipes (Alpro® ), Pantasept® allo 0.5% secondo le linee guida del CDC di Atlanta. Risultati: la semplice detersione è stata inefficace contro tutte le specie tes…

Variation in central corneal thickness during the mestrual cycle in women

Uso del tonometro e rischio infettivo: valutazione dell'efficacia di differenti tipi di disinfettanti

MITOMICINA-C A BASSO DOSAGGIO NELLA CHIRURGIA DEL GLAUCOMA: CONFRONTO TRA SCLERECTOMIA PROFONDA E TRABECULECTOMIA A 4 ANNI.

Aims: To compare the long-term effects of low-dosage mitomycin C (MMC) in both deep sclerectomy (DSMMC) and trabeculectomy (TPMMC) on intraocular pressure (IOP). Methods: Analysis of extended follow-up of data from a prospective clinical trial. Forty patients were originally randomised to undergo either DSMMC (19 eyes) or TPMMC (21 eyes). Follow-up was performed at postoperative day 1, weeks 1, 2 and 3, as well as months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48. Two- to three-week data were not included in the statistical analysis. Postoperative complications, number of antiglaucoma medications and IOP were recorded at each visit. Complete (no medications) and qualified (with or without medication…

USO DEL TONOMETRO E RISCHIO INFETTIVO: VALUTAZIONE DELL'EFFICACIA DI DIFFERENTI TIPI DI DISINFETTANTI

Study of pituitary secretion in relation to retinopathy in patients with juvenile diabetes mellitus.

Fifteen juvenile diabetic patients with normal eye fundus, 6 with non proliferative retinopathy, 5 with proliferative retinopathy and 5 healthy control subjects were studied in order to investigate pituitary function in relation to diabetic retinopathy. ACTH values at 08(00) and 18(00), hPRL and TSh secretion in response to 200 microgram TRH i.v., and GH secretion in response to 500 mg oral L-dopa were evaluated. In all diabetic subjects, 08(00) ACTH levels were lower than in controls. Basal hPRL, TSH and GH values of the diabetics did not differ from those of the controls. No significant differences were found in hPRL levels in response to TRH, whereas significantly lower TSH responses wer…

Studio clinico randomizzato e controllato sull'efficacia clinica dell'uso di lenti multifocali refrattive versus diffrattive nella chirurgia della cataratta

OCT is not useful for detection of minimal diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetes.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been proven useful in measuring retinal thickness (RT) in patients with diabetes, although with discordant results in different studies. We examined RT in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) with or without minimal diabetic retinopathy (MDR) to test whether OCT is able to identify early retinal changes and potential correlations with metabolic parameters. RT of 102 patients with T1D (53 females, 49 males, aged 27.03 +/- 7.4 years) and of 42 healthy controls was examined, with analysis of nine different sectors (fovea, four pericentral and four peripheral sectors). According to the results of basal fundus photography, patients were divided into two grou…

Variations in central corneal thickness during the menstrual cycle in women.

PURPOSE: We report changes in the central corneal thickness during various phases of the menstrual cycle. METHODS: We recruited 16 healthy women of reproductive age and measured the central corneal thickness at 3 points in their menstrual cycle, beginning on days 1 to 3 and again at ovulation and at the end of the cycle (days 27-32). Ovulation was determined with a test that determines the peak of luteinizing hormone in the urine. RESULTS: We found that the central cornea was thinnest at the beginning of the cycle (mean = 536 microm). Corneal thickness increased at ovulation (mean = 549 microm) and at the end of the cycle (mean = 559 microm). The difference in corneal thickness was statisti…

Retinal myelinated nerve fibers associated with macular pseudohole

We report the case of a 24-year-old woman who presented unilateral extensive peripapillary myelinated nerve fibers associated with macular pseudohole and bilateral low myopia. Visual acuity, slit lamp biomicroscopy, automated perimetry, fundus color photography, and optical coherence tomography (Stratus® OCT) were performed. We discuss the clinical findings and diagnostic details of unilateral extensive peripapillary myelinated nerve fibers associated with macular pseudohole.

Sicurezza ed efficacia dell’inserto Ologen™ nella chirurgia del glaucoma: risultati a medio termine di uno studio prospettico di fase II.

Trattamento chirurgico di traumi perforanti da corpo estraneo nel segmento posteriore

One-Year Outcomes with New-Generation Multifocal Intraocular Lenses

Purpose: To compare new-generation multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) with monofocal IOLs. Design: Randomized prospective clinical trial. Participants: Sixty-two consecutive patients with cataract, seen between January of 2005 and January of 2006 at the Department of Ophthalmology of Palermo University Hospital in Italy, were bilaterally implanted with monofocal (AR 40, Advanced Medical Optics [AMO], Santa Ana, CA; 15 patients), multifocal refractive (Array SA40N, AMO; 16 patients), multifocal refractive (ReZoom, AMO; 15 patients), or multifocal diffractive pupil-independent (Tecnis ZM900, AMO; 16 patients) IOLs. Intervention: Bimanual phacoemulsification. Main Outcome Measures: Primary o…

Prepapillary venous loops and choroidal veins tortuosity

Deep sclerectomy versus punch trabeculectomy with or without phacoemulsification: a randomized clinical trial.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of non-penetrating deep sclerectomy without implant with Crozafon-De Laage punch trabeculectomy, and to evaluate the effect of simultaneous temporal approach phacoemulsification on both techniques. Patients and Methods: Setting: Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Palermo. Design: Prospective randomized clinical trial. Patients and intervention procedures: Sixty-five patients (65 eyes) with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) or pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (PEXG): 32 eyes underwent non-penetrating deep sclerectomy (NPDS), 17 as single procedure and 15 combined with phacoemulsification (phaco- NPDS), and 33 eyes underwent punch trabeculectomy (PT),…

A case-control study on risk factors for nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular cataract: The Casteldaccia Eye Study

. Purpose: To investigate risk factors for nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular age-related cataract. Methods: A case-control study was carried out on subjects aged 40 years and older, living in Casteldaccia, Sicily. Twenty-seven potential risk factors were investigated. Nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular opacities of the lens were classified according to the Lens Opacities Classification System II. Subjects with advanced lens opacities represented the cases, while an identical number of subjects without or with early cataract, matched for sex and age, were recruited as controls from within the same population. Results: Univariate analysis showed that myopia and iris atrophy…

Disturbi emozionali nel trattamento chirurgico della cataratta

Aim.The aim of this study was to appraise the degree of phychic uneasiness and anxiety in subjects who undergo surgical intervention of the cataract and the degree of satisfaction for the result of the interventetion.Methods.A sample of 50 subjects(22 males and 28 females)has been evaluated before the intervention on the cataract: the level of anxiety was measured by means of the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scales T(HARS) and the degree of psychic uneasiness and psychopathological (phobia,somatization,depression) demonstrations by means of the test of psychic uneasiness-questionnaire IGD.The evalution of the degree of satisfaction for the results of the intervention has been obtained by means o…

Day care cataract surgery in Central and Southern Italy: a multicentric survey

Abstract Background Cataract day surgery has rapidly gained worldwide acceptance, because the new surgical techniques and costs are generally lower than those involved in ordinary hospitalization. Cataract surgery serves as a proxy indicator of the trend towards day surgery hospitalization in Italy and, therefore, of regional variability in health-care delivery and cost. The aim of this study was to update the diffusion of cataract day surgery through various surgical ophthalmological centers in central and southern Italy during 2005. Methods A two-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used to draw a sample of Cataract Surgery Unit from Ophthalmic Units of central and southern Italy.…

Prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in adult and elderly subjects. The Casteldaccia Eye Study

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in subjects aged 40 years or older living in Casteldaccia, Sicily. METHODS: A population-based survey was performed on 1,588 subjects randomly enrolled among people aged 40 years or older. A total of 1,068 persons could be examined and in 1,019 the fundus of the eye was adequately observed (64.2% of the enrolled population). Diabetic retinopathy was diagnosed by ophthalmoscopy and fundus photographs; fluorescein angiography was performed in 91% of retinopathic subjects. In addition, a case-control study was carried out in order to demonstrate the association of diabetic retinopathy with a number of variables. RE…

Forskolin:valutazione efficacia ipotensiva nei pazienti in terapia massimale

Biomicroscopia corneale

Transient reduction of the ocular perfusion pressure and the oscillatory potentials of the ERG

Abstract Purpose. To evaluate the changes of the Oscillatory Potentials (OPs) of Electroretinogram (ERG) caused by short-term hypertension in human subjects, and their relationship with ocular perfusion pressure (OPP). Methods. Suction cup technique in 12 normal volunteers with OPs simultaneously recording. Results. Scotopic and photopic OPs were altered during OPP drop. Scotopic OPs showed more sensitiveness, with higher reduction (from 21% to 47%), when compared to the basal value, than in photopic recordings (from 14% to 34%). In both conditions, the relationship between OPP and OPs presented a steady amplitude before the trough after the +30 step, and rapid recovery after OPP normalisat…

Mitomicina-C a basso dosaggio nella chirurgia del glaucoma: confronto tra sclerectomia profonda e trabeculectomia a 24 mesi

E-PTFE (Gore-Tex) implant with or without low-dosage mitomycin-C as an adjuvant in penetrating glaucoma surgery: 2 year randomized clinical trial.

Purpose: To test the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) as a new adjuvant in trabeculectomy. Methods: Consecutive glaucoma surgical inpatients were observed at the Department of Ophthalmology of Palermo University. Sixty patients (60 eyes) were randomly assigned to undergo trabeculectomy (T), trabeculectomy with mitomycin-C (TMMC), with ePTFE (TG) or with mitomycin-C and ePTFE (TGMMC). Postoperative visits were scheduled at 24 hr, 7 days, 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. Complete success and qualified success were assessed at two target intraocular pressure (IOP) levels – £21 and £17 mmHg – by Kaplan–Meier curves. Results: The postoperative IOP reduction was significant (P < 0.01) at th…

Comfort visivo e indipendenza da occhiali con IOLs multifocali di nuova generazione: follow-up a 1 anno

Deep sclerectomy versus trabeculectomy with low-dosage mitomycin C: four-year follow-up

&lt;i&gt;Aims:&lt;/i&gt; To compare the long-term effects of low-dosage mitomycin C (MMC) in both deep sclerectomy (DSMMC) and trabeculectomy (TPMMC) on intraocular pressure (IOP). &lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt; Analysis of extended follow-up of data from a prospective clinical trial. Forty patients were originally randomised to undergo either DSMMC (19 eyes) or TPMMC (21 eyes). Follow-up was performed at postoperative day 1, weeks 1, 2 and 3, as well as months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48. Two- to three-week data were not included in the statistical analysis. Postoperative complications, number of antiglaucoma medications and IOP were recorded at each visit. Complete (no medications) and…

Additional file 2 of Day care cataract surgery in Central and Southern Italy: a multicentric survey

Authors’ original file for figure 1

Additional file 3 of Day care cataract surgery in Central and Southern Italy: a multicentric survey

Authors’ original file for figure 2